A poll on which my next laptop depends on...

[ZelectroKarZRTM]

So uh, I was recently bombarded by some friends, that I shouldn't subject ANY  laptop to this kind of abuse. I have(HAD) a laptop(A Dell XPS M1330; 4 GB laptop DDR2 RAM, a Seagate Momentus 250GB HDD, an Intel Core2Duo @2.00 GHz, and an Intel 965M chipset). I'd been using it as my daily driver(with the Windows Insider Program on Fast Ring) since the 1st November, 2015. It's about 7 years old. And it started out with Vista. I upgraded it to 7, then to 10. And then started using it as a daily driver with Insider Builds(only PowerPoint presentations and Word documents mostly...). And that's about it. One fine morning, after I'd upgraded it to 1436x, I left it and I decided to get some coffee. After I came back, BOOM. It died. (The HDD.) Turns out it was an internal problem with the spindle. SO,

Edited July 5, 2016 by ZelectroKarZRTM

[T3X4S]

Uhm - 

Did the OP fall off a bridge, fall asleep, or accidentally click "Submit Topic" and the old laptop refused to boot ?

Where is the rest of the story ?  

Started off good - 

Got my interest at least

AFTER THE OP ADDED MORE INFO:

I clicked "Nope" to both - because those were the only acceptable answers to the open ended questions.

Is it supposed to die ?  Well - its 7 years old - and MTBF on a crap drive like that is ... well... 3-4 years.

2nd - will it happen again ?

Nope - it will die another way.

Only answers that can be extrapolated from this craziness  

Glad I could help.
 

 

[Skiver Veteran]

Your OP makes it a little difficult to actually understand what your actually asking but from what I understand you have/had a laptop and the HDD has died - its roughly 7 years old?

 

TBH I would expect a mechanical HDD to show some signs of use after 4-5 years so I'd say you've had a good run. From the poll it seems to suggest your considering upgrading to a surface book but I'd say why not just stick a new HDD or SSD in your current and keep it going?

[ZelectroKarZRTM]

 

5 minutes ago, Skiver said:

Your OP makes it a little difficult to actually understand what your actually asking but from what I understand you have/had a laptop and the HDD has died - its roughly 7 years old?

 

TBH I would expect a mechanical HDD to show some signs of use after 4-5 years so I'd say you've had a good run. From the poll it seems to suggest your considering upgrading to a surface book but I'd say why not just stick a new HDD or SSD in your current and keep it going?

Yes. It died, so I'm asking if it's supposed to have died. Or if it was just some coincidence. And BTW, yes, I've had my moments with the device . Also, I'm asking because I need a better device for my needs, BUT with the Fast Ring on it. Don't want two devices. Only one, willing to go as far as 2000$/€ for it.

[T3X4S]

SSD my good sir...SSD.

They last longer and will breathe new life into 7 year old laptops

[ZelectroKarZRTM]

 

11 minutes ago, T3X4S said:

SSD my good sir...SSD.

They last longer and will breathe new life into 7 year old laptops

Well, like I said. Wants new device for touchscreen and pen support lol.

Edited July 5, 2016 by ZelectroKarZRTM

[T3X4S]

1 minute ago, ZelectroKarZRTM said:

 

Ok, Ignore that post.

Well, like I said. Wants new device for touchscreen and pen support lol.

Oh sorry - 

For some reason, your posts on this thread are only coming in pieces, like every refresh adds words to each post - so I was commenting on incomplete info.

[ZelectroKarZRTM]

1 minute ago, T3X4S said:

Oh sorry - 

For some reason, your posts on this thread are only coming in pieces, like every refresh adds words to each post - so I was commenting on incomplete info.

Lol. Got it.

[ZelectroKarZRTM]

Oh, and also... This might just decide if I get my laptop next year or in 4 years.

[shockz]

If your old laptop was abused with a spindle HDD... and abuse as in dropped, bumped, banged, overheated (amazed at how many people prevent their laptop from going to sleep/shutting down with the lid close... and shoving it in a bookbag on a hot summer day and wonder why it's not working), and , etc... then yes, a spindle after 7 years of that type of abuse would have issues more often than not. I'd be wary of keeping important items on a 7 year old spindle HDD without abuse, let alone one that has been.

 

An SSD would mitigate that abuse risk, however, a drop is a drop, and while the SSD might luck out, it runs just as much of a risk being damaged as the LCD or plastics would be. I have a work laptop used out in the field, that involves all sorts of abuse I mentioned, and the spindle died only a few months after I received it. Replaced with SSD and still going strong 4 years later.

 

So the tl;dr version: An SSD would be more reliable in terms of shock abuse compared to a traditional spindle HDD.

 

A surface isn't your best option if it's going to be treated in such a fashion, even surface book. I'd invest in something a little more rugged. An SSD will greatly improve the performance of that 7 year old laptop as well.

[ZelectroKarZRTM]

3 hours ago, shockz said:

If your old laptop was abused with a spindle HDD... and abuse as in dropped, bumped, banged, overheated (amazed at how many people prevent their laptop from going to sleep/shutting down with the lid close... and shoving it in a bookbag on a hot summer day and wonder why it's not working), and , etc... then yes, a spindle after 7 years of that type of abuse would have issues more often than not. I'd be wary of keeping important items on a 7 year old spindle HDD without abuse, let alone one that has been.

 

An SSD would mitigate that abuse risk, however, a drop is a drop, and while the SSD might luck out, it runs just as much of a risk being damaged as the LCD or plastics would be. I have a work laptop used out in the field, that involves all sorts of abuse I mentioned, and the spindle died only a few months after I received it. Replaced with SSD and still going strong 4 years later.

 

So the tl;dr version: An SSD would be more reliable in terms of shock abuse compared to a traditional spindle HDD.

 

A surface isn't your best option if it's going to be treated in such a fashion, even surface book. I'd invest in something a little more rugged. An SSD will greatly improve the performance of that 7 year old laptop as well.

There was no abuse at all. All I can say is that I lucked out since I backed up the entire drive literally two days before it died. And I'm choosing a surface because of the stylus. There was possibly a little bit of overheating, but nothing severe like drops, banging, putting it in a bag on a hot day etc.